Writings

As an army “journalist” – in quotes because military journalism is also called “public affairs” – I wrote lots of articles and editorials on varying topics having to do with the army (2002-2008). Now I write songs, essays, op/eds and whatever else makes sense at the time. You can browse the archives or skip to my work published by:

Reflection | Keep Standing Rock Decolonized This is a militarized zone unlike any I’ve seen before. One side is armed, while the other chooses not to be. One side faces no threat; the other is threatened from all angles – snow, sleet, sickness, sadness and the System. One side fights violently for oil and money; the other, peacefully, for water and ...

Reflection | Silent And Strong: Women Lead At Standing Rock As I march beside hundreds of silent women toward the imposing guards of the Dakota Access Pipeline, I wonder why we don’t do this every damn day, every-damn-where in the world. Arms linked, we march from the camp to the bridge, where behind towering concrete barricades lurks an LMTV (with a gunner!). The smell of ...

News | Bringing Truth to the Youth: The Counter-Recruitment Movement, Then and Now “Back when we started, recruiters were just blatantly lying to the kids,” said Susan Quinlan, the co-founder and volunteer coordinator of the peace and justice group, Better Alternatives for Youth–Peace (BAY-Peace). For 12 years, she’s been bringing teams of youth into Oakland, California, schools to inform students about deceptive military recruiting practices. In that time, ...

Op/Ed | A Veteran’s Affair: How Dealing With The VA Is Like Dating A Douchebag After nearly 15 continuous years of war, you’d think more Americans would be aware of the ordeal veterans go through to get the benefits promised to us by the military. Unfortunately, because only one percent (roughly) of Americans serve in the military at any given time, there’s a massive cognitive disconnect between veterans and, as ...